Show Off Your Pots and Cups VI

[Victoria]

Wow, that's a beauty chamekke!
In with the planters! Wow

[andy825]

I took a field trip to Wing Hop Fung in Chinatown on Saturday, and adopted a few tiny treasures while I was there. You can see them here:
http://www.birdpick.com/842926.html
Also, I got a taller version of this one:
http://www.birdpick.com/843104.html
About three ounces, I would say.

Interestingly, the prices in the store are a fraction of the prices on the website. If you are within driving distance, its definately worth a trip. The array of teawares is quite staggering. I think I only wound up with those few small things due to complete sensory overload. I actually picked up several other things and carried them around for awhile, only to put them down when I found something else I loved even better. It was way too hard to choose. Perhaps I will give myself a spending allowance next time, so I am forced to choose something. There is WAY more stuff at the store than on the website.

http://www.winghopfung.com/

[wyardley]

I took a field trip to Wing Hop Fung in Chinatown on Saturday, and adopted a few tiny treasures while I was there. You can see them here:
[...]
Interestingly, the prices in the store are a fraction of the prices on the website. If you are within driving distance, its definately worth a trip. The array of teawares is quite staggering. I think I only wound up with those few small things due to complete sensory overload. I actually picked up several other things and carried them around for awhile, only to put them down when I found something else I loved even better. It was way too hard to choose. Perhaps I will give myself a spending allowance next time, so I am forced to choose something. There is WAY more stuff at the store than on the website.

http://www.winghopfung.com/

Right. This was mentioned also in this thread: http://www.teachat.com/viewtopic.php?p=64454 . I think the prices at the Bird Pick brand retail store in Pasadena are the same as the website. The prices at WHF are lower. Two reasons... different clientele, and higher rent (at least in terms of the retail location). Bird Pick gets all their stuff from WHF, and WHF seems to be using the Bird Pick brand for the tea they sell in their stores, but they're not exactly the same thing.

Check out the mpk store sometime - slightly different selection from the Chinatown store.

[andy825]

Check out the mpk store sometime - slightly different selection from the Chinatown store.

Oh, dear. Really?
I guess I need to go there next!
I agree with your post on the other thread that a lot of the wares are tacky/low quality, but for my purposes they have some very acceptable items at great prices. It lets me indulge a little bit without breaking the bank.

[wyardley]

Check out the mpk store sometime - slightly different selection from the Chinatown store.

Oh, dear. Really?
I guess I need to go there next!
I agree with your post on the other thread that a lot of the wares are tacky/low quality, but for my purposes they have some very acceptable items at great prices. It lets me indulge a little bit without breaking the bank.

Absolutely. And there is some good stuff tucked in there. I like them a lot for certain things, but try to avoid them for others.

The selection between the two stores isn't *that* different - it's mostly overlapping. But the two stores are laid out differently, and sometimes you'll find something at one store that's not at the other.

I don't usually even bother trying their teas, but bears3x brought over a couple of roasted Taiwanese oolongs from there that are not bad, and are fairly reasonably priced. There's a $140/lb roasted dong ding (royal song smog dong ding oolong or something like that), and a "decaf" (I don't think it's actually decaf) high mountain "smog oolong" for $70/lb. I *think* they mean "roasted" when they say "smog". I got a bunch of both for long term storage.

If you're in the area, might also be worth checking out the two Ten Ren / Ten Fu locations that are nearby - one on Garfield and Garvey and one on Valley and Del Mar. Tea there is not that exciting, and most teawares are overpriced, but each one does have a few things that are worth checking out. I think the Garfield / Garvey one is a little more inclined to bargain.

[horsencl]

I've been bad and I haven't posted any pictures of any of my teaware so here it goes:
My new yixing from Seven Cups

Bamboo tea tray

Gaiwan with one of its tasting cups, it came with four

My Zarafina cup that I use for just about all my tea drinking. I found the metal leaf saucer at a specialty sandwich shop of all places.


Not as drool worthy as the other pics on this thread but they serve me well The only thing that is missing is my Numi glass pot but it is nothing special.

[Victoria]

I think your bamboo try is definitely drool-worthy!
Love your gaiwan too!
Thanks for posting!

[chamekke]

I've been bad and I haven't posted any pictures of any of my teaware so here it goes:

<snip>

Not as drool worthy as the other pics on this thread but they serve me well The only thing that is missing is my Numi glass pot but it is nothing special.

Au contraire, I think those are really attractive wares... and I'm envious of your tea tray! Thank you for sharing these

[chamekke]

A page or two back, I was asked to share some detail pics of my sake cups. Although they're not tea wares, I do love them because they share many of the delightful features of Japanese tea cups and bowls. If this is too off-topic, I trust that the moderators will let me know

If you have any questions about any individual pieces, please ask.



A sake cup for Setsubun, the "devil-expelling" festival of early February in which beans are thrown to scare away ogres. Here they are being thrown by Otafuku:


A sake set by Lynne Johnson that I'm particularly fond of:


Close-ups of the cup:



Two summer cups, Kutani, with enamelled design. The image on the first is a stylized version of fishing nets hung to dry:


Benzaiten, the goddess of music and learning / a square cup with white hydrangea (?):


Arrow-and-target cups (good for Sagittarians!) / summer cup with crab:

[Victoria]

Thanks for posting Chamekke! I would definitely be using some of those lovlies for tea. I have several sake cups myself that are big enough to suit the purpose. Love that one on the top right.

[chamekke]

Thanks for posting Chamekke! I would definitely be using some of those lovlies for tea. I have several sake cups myself that are big enough to suit the purpose. Love that one on the top right.

Thanks, I love that one, too. It's Hagi ware and is much larger than most sake cups, so it works particularly well for tea.

I'd be really interested in seeing your sake cups some time, Victoria - especially the ones you use (or would consider using) for tea!

[olivierco]

A page or two back, I was asked to share some detail pics of my sake cups. Although they're not tea wares, I do love them because they share many of the delightful features of Japanese tea cups and bowls. If this is too off-topic, I trust that the moderators will let me know

If you have any questions about any individual pieces, please ask.

Thanks for all the pictures.
I particularly like this one:

[Selaphiel]

Absolutely love this one. Mind sharing where you found that one?

[Salsero]

A page or two back, I was asked to share some detail pics of my sake cups.

As usual, your stuff is all "da bomb!"

Actually, it's my recent understanding that in current nomenclature such things are denominated as "sick", though I have no idea why.

Thanks for sharing.

[t4texas]

Wow! I agree. They're all, errr, da sick bomb.